The new argument for the death of résumés (will it ever end?) is not LinkedIn or any other online profile that will cause its demise; no, it’s a personality test called Cream.hr, which guarantees to make the hiring process flawless.

It takes more pressure off hiring managers, recruiters, and human resources. What a wonderful thing; no more résumés and less decision making from hiring authorities.

An article in Wired.com  called Kill Your Résumé: What about Using Science to Hire asserts that this test “can unearth the perfect job candidates even if they don’t necessarily have the most relevant work experience or college degree on paper.” The test can even select executive-level candidates worth interviewing, assuring hiring authorities they have what it takes.

According to Cream.hr the most essential skills are “task management skills, work ethic, intelligence, and what it calls the “Big Five” personality traits – openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.” And this test will nail down all these traits without a single résumé having to be read. Simply wonderful.

What makes this tests even more amazing is that it’s hard for applicants to fool it, as opposed to a personality test that many companies use, Unicru. The way Cream.hr accomplishes this is by asking similar questions multiple times to assure consistency in answers.

For example, one question gives you a list of five personalities traits including “I am the life of the party” and “I am always prepared,” both of which sound similar to the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator. The first example determines extraversion, while the second speaks to a preference for judging.

(Maybe what’s really got me riled is the fact that extraversion is a preferred trait for candidates. After all, introverts can’t possibly be considered among the “perfect” candidates, can they? I think most of my introverted colleagues would disagree whole-heartily with this assumption.)

It’s possible that résumés will finally become obsolete, which means jobseekers will no longer have to labor over writing them and, most importantly, employers will no longer have to read them. This is a big selling point for the Cream.hr; for a mere fee ranging from $99.00 to $499.00, companies will no longer have to read tons of résumés.

I have some questions about the effectiveness of this wunder software, such as, does it identify a candidate’s accomplishments, or reveal one’s ability to write succinctly, or show the jobseeker’s understanding of the position? Will it make companies lazy as they rely on a test that has as much human element as…a robot.

The hiring process is never a sure thing but to use a test to determine that best candidates, no matter how accurate, is simply that…a test. If all companies rely on a test such as this, our job as career advisors will be to teach our clients to answer the questions the way employers want them to. We’ll see how this argument goes.